Rafael Nadal is unsure whether this year's Roland Garros will be his final one, but Novak Djokovic believes it won't be.
Djokovic was one of several tennis players who watched Nadal in his return to Roland Garros against Alexander Zverev, and he enjoyed his time. The match was interesting, even though it only lasted three sets, and while fans in attendance didn't really see the Spaniard win even a set, he came close.
Djokovic enjoyed his time at the Court Philippe-Chatrier and was glad to see his rival compete again. He was actually impressed because the 14-time French Open champion played way better than he did in previous weeks.
Based on what he saw, Djokovic doesn't think that this was Nadal's final time at Roland Garros. The Spaniard himself wouldn't confirm whether this was the last time he played there because he truly doesn't know.
There is a chance that it was, and there is a chance that it wasn't, but according to Djokovic's assessment, it won't.
"It was great to watch. I don't recall last time I actually watched a set of any match live on that level, other than Davis Cup, of course, matches. It was great. I saw, you know, Iga was there, Alcaraz was there, and we all wanted to get a glimpse of the atmosphere, of that possibly unique moment, you know, that could be his last. But it doesn't appear like that."
Djokovic might have a point, looking at how Nadal's wording changed in the past few weeks. He cooled down on the retirement talk and seemed to be open to continuing, but obviously, it's not only about his desire to play or not.
It's actually a lot more about his body being able to handle all of that, and that's not entirely in his control.
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